DICE needs “to hold back a bit,” “ashamed” of imperfections

DICE executive producer Patrick Bach has said the team struggles to appreciate its successes, feeling “ashamed” of sterling efforts like Bad Company 2.

“We need to make sure people in this company to feel happy about closing this project and shipping the game,” Bach told the Wall Street Journal.

“Many, including me, are feeling that if they only had one week more, we could have done so much more. People seem to focus on what they could have done, rather than on what we have already managed to achieve.”

Ased if he felt pride in the studio’s efforts, Bach replied in the negative.

“I don’t know why, but I always feel ashamed about the games I’m involved in making,” he said.

“I can’t even bring myself to start up Battlefield: Bad Company 2, our last game, because I feel so ashamed. I know it is a great product but still I only see the things we could have done better.”

Bach gave a kind of humble-brag example, saying that a few hours prior to the interview, he was raging over some sub-standard animations – only to realise they were higher than industry standards.

“Our biggest challenge right now is holding back a bit. There is a definite risk that we narrow down on details that, in fact, aren’t that important to our players,” he added.

“Everyone in the team has been sucked into the idea that this will be the ultimate game. And when you feel that you have to ship a tiny detail which isn’t perfect you feel extremely disappointed. But to be honest, when you look at the game it is pretty cool. You just have to step away from it.”

Battlefield 3 releases on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in October. A multi-platform open beta is in progress now.